


The Angel's Heart

by chaostheorem



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Barebacking, Bottom Castiel (Supernatural), Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Harlequin Inspired, M/M, Minor Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Past Cas/Dick, Top Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 20:56:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18225323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheorem/pseuds/chaostheorem
Summary: When Castiel Milton agreed to his mother’s strongly-worded requests to accept a date with His Royal Highness Dick Roman, he never thought that it would lead to anything. One year later and he was walking down the aisle at the year’s most anticipated wedding. Millions of people were watching at home, and everyone who’s anyone was there...except one of the grooms!Millionaire Dean Winchester’s little brother always told him that acting without thinking was going to get him in trouble one day. While everyone else was staring at Prince Dick’s retreating back, Dean was locked on Castiel. The poor guy looked so embarrassed and resigned that Dean couldn’t stand it - not when there was something he could do to help. Pretending to marry a kind, gorgeous man to help him out? No problem.Well, maybe one small problem… The marriage was legal and binding! While they wait for a quiet annulment, Dean and Castiel embark upon a journey to make their families and the world believe the whirlwind love story. Mixed feelings abound when they start to believe it themselves.But what happens when Dick decides that he wants Castiel back?





	The Angel's Heart

\----

The Royal Suite at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris was even more stunning in person than it had been in pictures. Dick had bragged about the rooms, detailing everything from the steam room to the luxurious balcony with the view of the Eiffel Tower. Paris was to be the first stop on their honeymoon tour.

Castiel stared at the huge bed in the master bedroom from his spot in one of the lounge areas. He remembered looking at pictures of the suite with Dick while they planned their trip. The room was mostly beige, with purple and gold accents so deep and rich that even looking at them in pictures felt like relaxing in a warm bath. He couldn’t wait to share the beauty with his husband as they started their lives together, and he’d said as much to his fiance. Dick had laughed and told him to wait until he saw the rooms in Switzerland and Shanghai.

He dragged himself out of his memories and his eyes away from the bed and focused on the television, only to find that it was worse than his own thoughts.

_ “There’s no doubt that the wedding of the century turned into the twist of the century,”  _ the news anchor commented as the show reintroduced the story as they brought in yet more reporters and witnesses.  _ “With hundreds in attendance and millions watching at home, Prince Dick shocked the world when he left his groom, Castiel Milton, at the altar. Let’s watch the scene from earlier-” _

Castiel aggressively changed the channel, desperate to avoid seeing the confusion and hurt on his own face as Dick interrupted the ceremony. The six simple words echoed in his head- “I’m sorry, Castiel. I just can’t.”

It took him a second to realize that the channel he had changed to was also airing coverage of the wedding. This one had a panel of experts discussing the day’s events. He scoffed. How did one become an expert on something like this?

_ “Who would have thought that Prince Dick leaving Castiel at the altar wouldn’t be the biggest surprise?”  _ one of them was saying, the others nodding in agreement.  _ “Everyone wants to know more about Dean Winchester, and I’m one of them. Mark, what can you tell us about the man who professed his love for Castiel in front of the world and is now married to him?” _

_ “Thanks, Diana. I think we can all agree that Dean Winchester is the epitome of ‘knight in shining armor.’ Dean is a self-made billionaire, the founder of Hunter Technologies. His tech has revolutionized healthcare and saved countless lives. He supports and has founded multiple charities, all headed up by Castiel, and has donated so much money that he actually  _ fell off _ the billionaires list!” _

_ “That’s right, Mark,” _ another panelist joined in.  _ “He also raised his younger brother, renowned human rights lawyer Sam Winchester, after the death of their father when Dean was eighteen. Their mother died in a house-fire when Dean was only f-” _

A hand appeared in the frame of Castiel’s vision and abruptly turned off the TV. He must have missed Dean coming out of the bathroom.

“If you want to know more about me, you don’t need to watch the news. We are married after all.” The last bit was said with an awkward chuckle, and Castiel smiled tiredly.

“The whole situation is inescapable right now, I’m afraid. I’m sorry that you got involved in this mess.”

Dean shrugged and sat down on the couch opposite to Cas. “Involved myself, didn’t I? Not like you had much of a choice either. I’m sure this wasn’t how you were expecting to spend your wedding night.”

He found himself answering before he thought. “No, I always imagined being left at the altar, marrying my boss, and then hiding from the world in the honeymoon suite.”

Castiel was on the verge of apologizing even as he finished speaking. His mother had told him over and over that his tendency to be blunt and sarcastic when stressed was an ugly trait, but Dean was smiling.

“Fair enough. If it helps, I never expected to end the day with a husband when I woke up this morning. Hell, I didn’t expect to end the  _ wedding _ with a husband, even after I stood up and started spouting off.”

Cas shook his head. “I still can’t believe that you signed the marriage license and thought it wasn’t a real wedding.”

Dean stood up and poured himself a drink. “I thought the guy wanted an autograph!” he said with his back to Cas. “It’s not like I know how these things work. I’ve never been married before.” He turned around with drink in hand, mouth open to say something, but Castiel cut him off.

“I agree with your brother. With what he said this afternoon,” Castiel clarified at Dean’s confused look. “There are too many potential consequences to admitting signing your name under false pretenses. You could lose everything. A few months will be all it takes for the press to completely forget us. Then we can get an annulment and continue on as before. Our marriage won’t have to change anything.”

Dean still looked like he wanted to say something, but he blessfully didn’t. Instead, he drained his drink in two gulps and set the glass down, then moved towards the smaller bedroom. “I think I’ll turn in,” he said. “Lots to do tomorrow.” He pointed towards the master bedroom. “Your things are in there.”

“Actually,” Castiel said hurriedly, then continued before he could talk himself out of it, “can we switch?”

Dean looked at Cas searchingly for several seconds and then nodded. “Sure. Not like I’m going to argue against you giving me the better room.”

Castiel forced a small smile, but he couldn’t look Dean in the eyes, too afraid that he would lose his tenuous grip on control if he saw any sympathy.

They moved Castiel’s suitcases and exchanged goodnights before shutting themselves in their respective rooms.

He didn’t even make it to the bed before the exhaustion of the day caught up to him and he sank to the floor, back resting against the door. He tried to focus on the sights and sensations of the room for as long as possible, anything to prevent his mind start replaying the events of the day. His focus lasted all of a minute before he thought of his mother’s face, the joy turned to horror. He heard the gasps and whispers of the guests as Dick walked away. He could see the almost-smirk on Dick’s face. Even those memories couldn’t distract him for long, and soon Castiel was left facing the question he’d been running from all evening. Why did he sign the marriage license with Dean when he knew that signing it would make the marriage legal and real?

\--

**Six Months Later**

“Oh my goodness, Your Highness, it’s such an honor to have you staying with us!”

Cas smiled politely and glanced at the nametag of the exuberant blonde hostess. “Thank you, Becky. It’s lovely to be visiting. Please call me Castiel.”

Becky’s eyes widened in apparent horror. “Oh no, Your Highness. I could never.”

An arm fell across his shoulders, and Cas looked to his right to see Dean smiling at Becky. “Don’t let him fool you. He makes me call him Your Highness all the time.”

Cas gave Dean a playful elbow to the side, pulling an exaggerated  _ oomph _ out of him. “That is not true. Don’t listen to a word that he says,” he said to Becky, but she was staring behind him as if he didn’t exist.

“Sam!” she squeaked, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, I mean, Your Honor. I am  _ so _ glad to have you staying here with me- with us!” she corrected. “Honored to have Your Honor staying here with us at Paradiso Resorts, where all your fantasies come true.”

Cas turned his head to left to see Dean’s brother, Sam, stepping up to the check-in counter looking shocked and confused. “Thank you?”

“Oh no, thank  _ you _ . We have you and Mrs. Moore-Winchester set up in our best lake-view room. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of stocking the room with some of your favorite treats and drinks, just things that you’ve mentioned in interviews. I also set the room temperature to 67 degrees since you like it cool. If you or your wife need anything at all during your stay, please let me know. Anything,” Becky stressed.

Cas had to hand it to her - she managed the perfect delivery so that it came across as only mildly sexual and much more... dangerous. He was willing to bet that Becky would commit a number of crimes if it meant seeing Sam happy.

Sam stepped back after taking the room keys from Becky. He locked eyes with Dean and then Cas, then said quietly, “I-I’ll just go get Jess and the bags.”

Once Sam had left, Cas and Dean stepped back up to the counter.

“I’m sorry about the wait,” Becky said to them both, then turned to Dean. “You must be very proud of your brother.”

Dean looked like he couldn’t decide between gushing about Sam or backing away slowly. He eventually nodded once and said, “Sure am. Hey, I got a favor to ask.”

He leaned on the counter and smiled, somehow turning his effortless charm up even higher, and Cas was struck once again with just how handsome Dean was. “Someone gifted us this trip as a late wedding present, but there was a mixup and we’re not sure who it was. Can you tell us who paid for our time at this wonderful resort?”

Becky smiled. “Oh, no, there was no mixup. The sender wishes to remain anonymous. They were very generous and set you up with our all-inclusive package. You have full access to all of our activities and amenities, including our top two most popular - couples massages and romantic sunset horseback rides. Shall I go ahead and schedule you for a ride this evening?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you, Becky,” Cas said, taking the room cards from her and waiting for Dean to follow.

He stopped after only a few feet, not sensing Dean behind him. “Dean?”

He followed Dean’s gaze across the room and felt his heart drop into his stomach. There, surrounded by his normal entourage, was his ex-fiance, Prince Dick.

“Castiel!” Dick greeted loudly across the lobby, making all eyes turn towards him.

It was the first time seeing Dick since the wedding ceremony, and he wasn’t ready, but he couldn’t have expected Dick to take his feelings into account. He never had in the year that they’d dated.

He plastered a polite smile on his face for the benefit of the photographers and cameras that were clamoring at the windows as Dick made his way over to them.

He felt a bolt of courage run through him as Dean snaked his arm around his waist, and he returned the gesture, giving Dean a warm smile in thanks. 

All too soon, Dick was right in front of them. He was once again grateful for Dean’s presence, as Dick made an aborted gesture as if he were going to hug Castiel and only decided against it because Dean blocked the way.

“Castiel, hello! How have you been?”

“We’ve been very well, thank you. How are you?”

Dick’s smile looked forced as he glanced down to where he and Dean had their arms wrapped around each other. “I’ve been reflecting on a lot of things these past few months,” he said vaguely. “It’s nice to see you again. How long will you be here?”

“A week.”

“Me as well. I hope that we’ll have the chance to catch up.”

Dean’s arm tightened around him, and Cas leaned into him more before saying, “Our schedule is packed, but perhaps.”

Dick didn’t look happy with the response but he let it go. “It was nice to see you, Castiel,” he said, then left without acknowledging Dean once.

“You okay?” Dean asked.

Sometimes Cas could hardly believe that he didn’t dream Dean into existence. The physical perfection was one thing - the perfectly-tousled light brown hair, full lips that Cas had to constantly force his eyes away from, light stubble on that strong jaw, and those gorgeous green eyes - but the rest of him was even harder to fathom. He had thought that after years of working together he would become desensitized, but the attraction only increased the more he got to know Dean and see how good of a person he genuinely was.

Even now, he let Cas take the lead with Dick, despite making no attempt to hide the fact that he despised the man and Cas was sure that he wanted to let Dick know exactly what he thought.

Before the wedding, people had told Castiel that the first few months as a newlywed would be difficult, but they’d also be some of the best months of his life. It had turned out to be truer than they could have possibly known, even if not in the way they meant. Dean was a wonderful and attentive husband, but the best months of his life were spoiled by having to constantly remind himself that Dean was only acting and that their annulment would be coming through any week now. After that, he could go back to his reclusive ways and pine after Dean from afar.

He sighed. “I’m fine. I could use some air, though. How does a horse ride sound?”

\--

Dean was trying and failing to focus on staying on the horse that he’d been assigned. He kept getting distracted by the sight of Cas with those strong, thick thighs stretched over the back of his horse. The man was tempting enough in suits in the office, but he was downright sinful on a horse.

He sputtered as he rode straight into the end of a branch and belatedly ducked beneath it.

“Are you okay?” Cas asked.

“Yeah,” Dean said, shrugging the incident off and running a hand through his hair. “Just never spent much time around horses.”

“Really? I think I spent most of childhood and teenage years on a horse. My mother was legitimately, if unwarrantly, concerned that I’d end up bowlegged.”

“Hey, it takes more than that to join such an exclusive club,” Dean teased. He felt his face flush as he realized the possible implications of his words, the less good-natured teasing of his own teenage years coming back to him. Luckily, Cas didn’t seem to have noticed.

“Eventually she learned that I was using riding as an escape from the unbearable pressure to live up to the family name and she limited my rides.”

Dean was horrified at the emotionless way that Cas delivered such heartbreaking news, as if it were completely normal. “Riding helped you so she stopped that? That’s terrible. Although, I’m not sure why I’m surprised. Wasn’t she the one that pushed you into dating the royal prick?”

Cas shrugged. “She only wants the best for me. She means well.”

Dean knew that he should let it go. They were veering into dangerous territory for two people only pretending to be in a relationship, but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “My dad meant well after my mom died. Didn’t mean that he didn’t do a crap job and put me and Sammy through hell. It’s a miracle that either of us are where we are today.”

Cas turned and looked at him, not saying anything for several seconds, then sighed. “It’s no miracle, Dean. You did a great job of raising Sam, and it’s absolutely no wonder that your genius has been recognized by so many.”

If the words came from anyone but Cas, he’d brush them off, but he couldn’t deny that he loved hearing them from Cas. Before he could reply, his horse suddenly reared up.

“Dean!” Cas yelled, his focus on Dean even as he appeared to be struggling to control his own horse.

There was a moment when all four hooves were back on the ground before the horse was off like a bullet. The sound of Cas calling his name faded quickly with the sound of the wind in his ears as he barely managed to hang on for dear life.

The horse was running in a panic, sprinting through the trees, branches snagging at Dean’s clothes and scratching his skin. He didn’t know how long they ran before they broke into a clearing. He was just about to jump off the horse and try to roll when he realized that he could hear Cas calling his name again.

Cas had somehow managed to urge his horse so that it was neck-and-neck with his own. 

“Whoa, whoa!” Cas shouted, leaning over to grab the reins and pull.

The horse pulled up, breathing hard and dancing in place. Dean dismounted as quickly as possible, ending up in a heap on the ground. He stood up and backed away from the horse.

“Are you alright?” Cas asked. He had his back to Dean, still trying to bring both horses under control and calm then down, but Dean could hear the fear in his voice.

“I think so,” he said, running his hands over his body to check, eyes following along. “Nothing seems to be broken.” He reached down and cupped himself. “The important parts got a bit squished but they’ll be fine.”

Cas continued his calming strokes on Dean’s horse as he looked over his shoulder. “If you’re joking about that, then you’re fine,” he said, relieved smile gracing his face.

“Who said I was joking?” he asked, then grimaced to himself. Talking about his squished package with Cas was not the smooth flirting that he’d had in mind for the week.

“Anything I can do to help?” Cas asked.

…... or maybe it was. It was possible that Cas was just being a good friend and didn’t realize how it sounded, but the blush spreading over Cas’s cheeks indicated he knew exactly what it sounded like he’d offered.

“You going to give me a massage, Cas?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of giving you my jacket, since your shirt is torn to shreds, but I can do a massage.”

Dean looked down. He’d noticed some tears when he was checking for broken bones, but he hadn’t realized the extent of the damage to his shirt. There was a tear across the chest that left his left nipple exposed, and something had clearly snagged and tugged and caused most of the buttons to pop off. One lone button remained.

He raised his head and found Cas’s eyes roaming over his form. When Cas met his eyes, Dean reached up and unbuttoned the last button. Without breaking their gaze, he shrugged off the remains of his shirt and let it fall to the ground.

Cas swallowed noticeably, but before he could speak, a small army of hotel employees descended upon the clearing in golf carts and Gators, shouting questions.

The swarm surrounded them, wrapping them both in emergency blankets despite their protests and leading them to the carts.

As they sat next to each other and slowly bounced their way back to the hotel, Dean reached for Cas’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

“Thanks for saving me.”

Cas settled his free hand over both of theirs. “Always.”

\--

Two days later, they still didn’t know what had spooked their horses, and now they were sat across from the resort manager, Jody Mills, yet again.

“We’re still looking to determine the cause of the fire. In the meantime, we’re looking for a suitable replacement room for you. We only have staff rooms available right now, but we’re exploring other options.”

“Other options? What-”

The door to the office burst open. Dick stood in the doorway, uncaring as the door slammed against the wall and left a dent where the doorknob hit.

“Castiel, are you alright?” he asked. He crossed to Cas and knelt down beside him, his hand gripping Cas’s upper thigh. “I’ve just heard about the fire. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the hotel pays for their gross negligence.”

Castiel looked at Jody, surprised to find her staring at Dick with unmitigated hostility and none of the fear that he expected to see. Dick was known for ruining establishments for the most minor of inconveniences.

“I’m fine, thank you,” he said. “Dean and I were out getting a massage and were not in the room at the time.”

“I’m so grateful that you’re safe,” he said with a squeeze of the hand.

Dean’s hand landed on his other thigh. “Well, as you can see, we’re fine, so you can go.” Cas barely suppressed a shiver at the growl in Dean’s voice.

Dick stood and glared down at Dean. “Forgive me if I don’t take the word of the man who stole my husband and would like to verify his safety for myself.”

Dean stood and glared right back. “Forgive  _ me _ if I don’t trust the actions of the man who left his fiance at the altar.”

Cas shared a look with Jody and sighed. “Dean, sit down.” He waited until Dean did so before continuing, but not without taking Dean’s hand. “Dick, thank you for your concern, but Dean and I are fine. Ms. Mills is taking good care of us and I have every confidence in the hotel.”

“That may be, but you’ll need somewhere to stay while your room is repaired. I have an extra room in my suite. You can stay there, and Dean can stay with his brother. I hear that he is here as well this week and I’m sure the couch will do for him.”

“As I was saying before you entered, Your Highness,” Jody said, spitting the honorific as if it were in an insult, “we’re already working on finding an acceptable replacement room.”

“My people tell me the hotel is completely booked.”

Jody narrowed her eyes. “That is true,” she said, an oddly hostile tone to her voice, “but we’re planning to offer other guests free nights here if they agree to move to a staff room for the duration of Mr. Milton and Mr. Winchester’s stay.”

“Unacceptable,” Dick stated.

“For once, I agree with Dick,” Dean said. “The staff room is more than acceptable for us.”

Dick huffed. “That is not what I meant.”

“We all know what you meant, but believe it or not, your opinion doesn’t matter here. Unless... “ Dean turned to him. “Did you want to stay with him, Cas?”

He hated the uncertainty in Dean’s eyes, so he squeezed his hand and turned to Jody. “The staff room will be lovely, thank you.”

Dick turned and left without another word, and the tension in the room fell away. Jody smiled.

“Are you sure about the staff room? It’s really nothing more than a Queen bed and an ensuite.”

Cas smiled back. “It should make for a refreshing change of pace.”

\--

“I might not have been so cavalier about the room if I knew that it didn’t have a TV.”

Cas looked up from responding to emails on his laptop while sitting next to where Dean was lying on his back on the bed. “What did you say?”

“I said that I might not have been so cavalier about the room if I knew that there wasn’t a TV here. I’m missing Dr. Sexy.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Dr. Sexy  _ reruns _ . You’ll survive.”

“But what is the point in merely surviving?” Dean said, playing up the drama and throwing his hand across his eyes. “I want to live!”

Cas reached behind him, grabbed one of his pillows, and threw it over Dean’s head, but he laughed as he did it, so Dean counted it as a win.

“And now my husband tries to smother me!” he said, voice muffled even to his own ears. “The torment never ceases.”

He quieted, taking advantage of the cover of the pillow to try to get his grin under control. He knew it was silly to be so happy about merely sleeping - and only sleeping - in the same bed as Cas, but he couldn’t help it. They’d been living in the same house for months now, but they kept to their own areas - Cas because he liked his privacy and Dean because he respected Cas enough to give him that privacy.

He had tried for the first month or so to invite Cas into his spaces. He’d made breakfast and dinners, offered to have Cas join Sam and him when they hung out, and even gave Cas carte blanche to redecorate or remodel, but there was always some excuse. Cas liked to work out in the mornings and often worked late, and he didn’t want to encroach on brotherly time, and he didn’t have much of an eye for interior design. Eventually, Dean accepted that Cas really was just in the marriage for convenience and tried to keep to himself as much as possible. Now, Dean wasn’t so sure.

When they had received the resort stay as an anonymous gift, Cas had guessed that it was from his cousin Gabriel. It seemed to come at the perfect time, as Sam had recently suggested that they start acting cold toward one another in public to set the groundwork for the annulment. Letting Cas go was one of the hardest things that he was going to have to do in his life, but he was willing to do it if it was what Cas wanted. If it had to happen, what better place than a resort where staff and guests could “accidentally” overhear arguments?

After the past few days, Dean was almost completely certain that Dick was the one behind this whole resort debacle. The look of hurt on Cas’s face when he had seen Dick was something that Dean could go his whole life without seeing again. He clenched his hand - still covered by the pillow - into a fist, imagining the utter satisfaction that would come with punching Dick in his smarmy face.

He brought his arm down from his face, bringing the pillow with it, and focused on Cas. “You know,” he said, “we don’t have to do anything this week. The arguments and annulment and stuff. Not with Dick here. Not if you don’t want to.”

Cas stared straight ahead, over the top of his laptop, and didn’t respond for a few seconds. Then he swallowed and said, “Thank you, Dean. I appreciate it, truly, but I’ve already infringed on your kindness for far too long. I need to let you get back to your life.”

There was something in Cas’s voice, in his words, that gave Dean courage. Maybe it was the pause, or the way that he didn’t mention himself but only what he assumed that Dean would want. Maybe it was the warm smiles and closeness and the way that Cas had stared at him these past few days, like he was trying to soak up as much of Dean as he could. Maybe it was simply foolhardy bravery from being so close to Cas. Whatever it was, he knew that he couldn’t let Cas go without at least telling Cas how he felt.

He sat up and turned towards Cas. “Cas….” he waited for Cas to look at him, but Cas stayed looking forward. “Cas, please look at me? I might be about to ruin everything, and I thought I wasn’t willing to risk that, but I realize now that I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t say this.”

Cas slowly turned his head, and Dean could see uncertainty in his eyes, even a little fear, which he hated, but most of all, hope, so Dean cleared his throat and kept going.

“From the day that you came into my office and turned what was supposed to be a one-hour interview into a two-hour lecture about the responsibility of the wealthy and the dangers of greed, I knew two things. The first was that I absolutely had to hire this fearless, brilliant man.”

Cas looked a bit embarrassed and said, “I’ve told before, I thought you were going to be much more of an asshole than you turned out to be.”

Dean laughed. “I still like to make you say it. But the second thing, the one that I haven’t told you before, is that you were the most entrancing person I’d ever met. I’ve held my own with some of the most powerful people in the world, and you came in and flat knocked me on my ass. And it wasn’t just because you’re the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen, even though you totally are.”

Cas scoffed and looked away, and Dean frowned. “You are,” he insisted.

“Have you looked in a mirror?”

It was Dean’s turn to blush, but he chose not to acknowledge the comment. “I swear, if any of this is making you uncomfortable, I’ll shut up and never bring it up again. We’ll get the annulment and go back to our lives, but Cas, I gotta tell you, I’d stay married to you forever if you let me.”

He must have reached the end of his courage, because he dropped his gaze to his lap, unable to watch the rejection that must be coming.

“Dean…” came Cas’s voice, and he braced himself. “Please tell me I can kiss you.”

His head snapped up, and he couldn’t contain the smile that spread across his face as he saw the soft look on Cas’s face. “Hell yeah.”

Cas leaned over to cup Dean’s cheek, then huffed in frustration as his laptop slid between them and blocked them. He slammed the lid shut and dropped it none too gently off the bed, not bothering to look where it landed before leaning back.

Cas’s hand was gentle where it barely touched Dean’s cheek, like even now he wasn’t sure if it was welcome. Dean grasped his wrist and tilted his head into Cas’s palm, and it was like a switch flipped in Cas. He surged forward and captured Dean’s lips, pushing him back and climbing into his lap.

“Imagined this so many times,” he said, pulling back slightly to stare at Dean.

“Me too. Guess that we’re just a couple of pining dumbasses.”

“We can talk about our foolishness later. Right now, I want you to fuck me.”

Dean groaned and ran his hands across Cas’s back. “Straightforward as ever. I love it.”

Cas slid out of his lap and off the bed, and Dean groaned again, this time in disappointment.

“I’m flattered, really, but my dick is not long enough to reach you over there,” he joked as Cas dug in his suitcase.

“Haha,” Cas said dryly. He climbed back onto Dean’s lap with a bottle of lube in his hand and rubbed his hand over the bulge in Dean’s pants. “Seems plenty big enough to me.”

Dean leaned up and trailed wet, open-mouthed kisses across Cas’s neck. Cas moaned and held him close for a bit, then pushed him away and climbed off the bed once more. “Get naked,” he instructed.

Dean hurried to comply, pulling off his shirt and wiggling out of his pants and underwear, staring as Cas did the same. For a few seconds, they both simply drank their fill, until Dean couldn’t take it anymore and pulled Cas onto him, then rolled so that he was stretched out on top of Cas.

“Hi,” he said, so stupidly happy he felt he could burst.

Cas’s returning smile was beautiful. “Hello.”

Dean took the opportunity to run his hand across Cas’s chest, enjoying the firm muscle and the hitch in breath that he drew when he moved lower, head following his hand and trailing kisses as he went.

He ran his tongue against the head of Cas’s rapidly hardening cock. He moaned when Cas tugged on his hair with both hands, just the right amount of pressure.

He lightly trailed his tongue down to Cas’s balls, then back up and took the cock in his mouth.

Just as settled into a rhythmic bobbing, Cas scrambled with his hand for the bottle of lube next to them and tapped it against Dean’s shoulder.

“Dean, it’s so good, you’re so good,” he said, and Dean preened, “but I have something else in mind for right now.”

“Or both.” Dean said. He slicked up his fingers and sank one finger into Cas at the same time that he sank his mouth back onto Cas’s cock.

“Oh my god,” Cas let out slowly, rolling his hips minutely into Dean’s mouth and onto his finger. “More.”

Dean wasn’t sure exactly what Cas wanted more of, so he added a second finger on the next thrust into Cas’s body while swirling his tongue around the head of his cock.

Cas moaned, almost a whine, and Dean peeked up to see Cas biting harshly into his bottom lip. He reached up a hand and touched Cas’s lip, shivering when Cas took the tip of his finger into his mouth and sucked.

When Cas was open and slick around three of his fingers, Cas pulled him up and pushed at his shoulders, urging him to roll over onto his back, and Dean was only too happy to comply.

Dean held his breath as Cas straddled him and slowly lowered himself on his cock, then let it out with a huff as Cas started rolling his hips. His hands rested on Cas’s ass, pushing, then pulling him closer. Cas grabbed his hands and pinned them to the bed above his head.

“You can touch all you want later, but right now, I’m too close. Keep these here.”

“Fuck!” Dean shouted. The combination of the shift in angle, the growl in Cas’s voice, the order itself… all of it was working to drive Dean over the edge much sooner than he wanted.

“Cas,” he moaned. “Fuck, fuck, I’m sorry, not sure how much longer…. sorry, sorry,” he babbled, only shushing when he felt Cas’s finger against his lips.

“It’s perfect, you’re perfect. I’m not going to last either.” Cas took himself in one hand and stroked and tweaked Dean’s nipple with the other, and he was gone. He seized up, hips driving up sharply, and spilled himself into Cas with a broken shout.

Cas followed only a few seconds later, shooting onto Dean’s stomach. He sat there breathing hard before slowing sliding off and collapsing on his back next to Dean.

Rolling onto his side, Dean rested his hand across Cas’s chest and drank in the sight of Cas, flushed and sweaty. It was a good look.

“I guess that annulment is out of the question,” Cas said, and Dean couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t know, “ he said with mock seriousness. “We may need to try again. Just to be sure.”

“Just to be sure,” Cas agreed with a brilliant smile before leaning in for a kiss. 

\--

Dean couldn’t keep the smile off his face at dinner the next night. They were seated at a prominent table at a nearby restaurant that they had planned to try the night before, but they’d been... preoccupied.

His fingers itched to run through Cas’s hair. He’d always imagined it to be soft, and now that he knew he was right, he wanted to touch it more than ever. Make it messier than it already was, and then trail his fingers down to Cas’s lips, touch them ever so softly before following with equally soft kisses…

“What?” he asked, realizing that Cas was staring at him with an amused look.

“I think I have a good idea of where your thoughts are, and I’m interested in seeing how they play out, but we should probably wait until we’re back in our room.”

A part of him felt that he should be embarrassed by being caught out so easily, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. “We could get the food to go,” he suggested.

Before Cas could reply, a figure stopped by their table, and Dean made a face when he looked up to see Prince Dick.

“Castiel, I’ve been trying to talk to you all week. Now, I’ve been patient, but you’re avoiding me and that needs to stop.”

Every fiber of his being wanted to stand up and deck Dick, but this wasn’t his fight, so he stayed seated and watched Cas. He was surprised to see none of the pain that normally accompanied an appearance or mention of Dick on Cas’s face. Instead, there was cold disinterest.

“Leave us alone, Dick. I’m trying to enjoy dinner with my husband.”

For a split second, shock crossed Dick’s face as Cas’s bluntness, but he recovered quickly. “Yes, your husband,” he sneered at Dean, then turned back to Cas. “That’s what I’ve been trying to talk to you about. Let’s step outside and talk privately.”

“We’re over,” Cas said. “You made your choice, and I have no desire to speak with you. Please leave.”

Dick straightened up and looked around, and Dean realized that every patron and staff member was staring.

“Very well,” Dick said, “since you refuse to do this privately, we’ll do it here. I made a terrible mistake leaving you at the altar. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I’m very sorry. I love you, and I will do anything to make it up to you.”

The look on Cas’s face could only be described as flabbergasted. Dean heart was frozen. Here was the man that Cas had been ready to spend the rest of his life with, proclaiming his love. Dean had never been so aware that he was Cas’s second choice.

“How dare you.” It wasn’t a question. Cas’s voice was low and even, but fury-filled all the same. “How dare you leave me at the altar in front of the entire world and now expect me to take you back just like that.” Cas stood and went toe-to-toe with Dick, voice rising as he did. “Even if I wasn’t with Dean, even if I didn’t love him, I wouldn’t for one second consider taking you back, you vile piece of butt.”

His heart had thawed and gone straight to racing in his chest, and he knew that his mouth was hanging open but he couldn’t help it. He’d longed to hear Cas read Dick for the filth that he was for so long, not to mention the other part. He was going to have to teach him some better insults, though.

“Really, Castiel, this sort of scene is undignified.”

“Undignified?!” Cas repeated. Dean had never seen him so upset.

“Yes, undignified,” Dick responded with heat of his own. “I was hoping to avoid having to tell you this because I didn’t want to see you hurt, but your precious Dean only married you for a publicity stunt. That’s right, his company needed a boost to stay alive. I’ve had my men on it for months and I have proof!”

Dean jumped up. “That’s a lie! Hunter Tech has never needed publicity stunts! Besides, I’d never do that to Cas!”

“Oh, then I guess that this call between you and your CFO is fake, then?” Dick asked, pulling his phone out of his suit jacket and starting a recording.

Crowley’s voice rang out. “ _ There’s been a nice bump in the numbers since you nabbed that new husband of yours. _ ”

Dean heard himself reply. “ _ Awesome. How does that change our standing? _ ”

“ _ We should be able to push it forward by at least three months. Does he know yet? _ ”

“ _ No, he doesn’t suspect anything, and I want to keep it that way. _ ”

Dick ended the recording. “I’m sorry, Castiel. I don’t want to hurt you, but I felt that you should know.”

Dean ignored him. “Cas, that’s not what it sounded like. Crowley and I were talking about -” he tried to explain, but Cas brushed past him.

“Excuse me, I need to leave” he said, voice so small and broken that it physically hurt Dean to hear.

“Now, Castiel, we still need to talk,” Dick said, grabbing Cas’s wrist as he passed.

“Let me go, Dick,” Cas said tiredly.

“No. You’re going to be coming back home with me. Tonight.”

Cas wouldn’t look at either of them. “Let me go right now.”

“Let’s go,” Dick said, ignoring him. He moved so quickly towards the door that Cas stumbled.”

“Hey!” Dean protested, at the same time that Cas said once more, dangerously low, “I said, let me  _ go _ .”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Dick hissed, and yanked again.

Cas was ready this time. He kept his feet, reared back, and punched Dick right in the nose.

“When someone asks you not to touch them, don’t touch them,” he said, then walked out the door without a backwards glance.

“Cas!” Dean yelled, following him outside.

“Don’t follow me, Dean.”

“It really wasn’t what it sounded like,” he pleaded. “It was a surprise for you, that new project you’ve been talking about? The one to help fund higher education for low-income communities? We’re going to be able to get it underway much sooner than antici-” was as far as he got before he felt himself lifted off his feet and tackled into the fountain he was standing beside.

“You ruined everything!” Dick screamed. “The horse, the fire, the call… they were all supposed to send him back to me!” He got a weak punch in before Dean regained himself and threw Dick off of him.

“You ruined it yourself!” he said, then punched Dick right in his smarmy face. “You had Cas and threw him away like an idiot. You piece of butt!” he added for emphasis.

\--

Castiel wanted nothing more than to get on a plane home right then, but he couldn’t stop himself from turning around as Dean was cut off, followed by an almighty splash.

He wanted not to care, but he couldn’t help but yell out as Dick punched Dean in the face. He ran back to help, only to see Dean quickly gain the upper hand.

“You had Cas and threw him away like an idiot. You piece of butt!” he heard.

He couldn’t help but to start laughing hysterically.

“Cas, you okay?” Dean asked.

“No. No, I’m not okay. The worst moments of my life seem to be perpetually caught on camera for the world to see,” he said with a gesture towards the throng of people who had followed them out of the restaurant, all with phones out and pointed towards them, “I don’t know who to trust, you just said ‘piece of butt’ and made me realize how stupid that sounded, and despite everything, all I want to do is climb into that fountain and kiss you.”

Dean didn’t wait. He climbed out of the fountain, ignoring the gaggle of Dick’s people trying to get in to help the prince, and made his way to Cas. He looked like something out of a fantasy, dripping wet and breathing hard.

“Cas, I swear to you with everything that I have, that conversation was taken out of context and was about the higher education project that you’ve been wanting to fund. I thought it would be nice to surprise you, but I should have told you from the beginning.”

He was right on top of Cas now, putting himself between Cas and the crowd and whispering, “If you want me to leave you alone, I will, but please don’t think that I don’t care for you. I’m glad that we got a bump in profits so that we can help more people, but not for me, not for Hunter Tech. You gotta know by now that I’d rather have you.”

He should wait. He should get more proof that Dean is telling the truth, but something makes him believe Dean. There’s just one thing that he needs to know.

“Tell me the truth - when you signed the marriage license, did you know it was real?”

“Yes,” Dean said without hesitation. “I know that you were in shock and I should have made sure that you were aware of what was going on, but-”

“I knew,” he said, cutting him off. “Even then, not even an hour after being left at the altar, I thought that a fake marriage with you would be better than a real one with Dick. So I guess that means that I’d rather have you too.”

It was like a weight was lifted from Dean with the way he swelled. He smiled and cleared his throat. “You know, when you were yelling at Dick in there, you said something interesting.”

“Piece of butt?”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, that, but we’ll work on that later. I was thinking along the lines of ‘even if I wasn’t with Dean, even if I didn’t love him’.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t realized that he’d said that. They hadn’t said it to each other yet, but he knew without a doubt that it was true. He opened his mouth to say as much, but Dean beat him to it.

“I do, you know. Love you, and I will prove it to you every day if you’ll let me.”

“I love you, too.”

Dean’s smile lit up his face. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“I could listen to you say that for the rest of my life.”

“What a coincidence. I’m going to say it for the rest of my life. Now, I’m tired of this vacation. What do you say we go home and get started on that? After you kiss me, of course.”

“Of course.”

Cas smiled as he wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck and pulled him close. He could definitely get used to this  _ forever  _ thing.

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> It's done! Only a year and a half after it was originally meant to be posted, oops. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. If you've made it this far, please consider leaving a kudos or a comment :)
> 
> Quick note - Dean and Cas bareback in this fic without any discussion or testing. That's fine for fanfic, but remember to be safe out there.


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